Lake + Manning

Book 4, Something in the Way

Jessica Hawkins

This book can be downloaded and read in iBooks on your Mac or iOS device.

Description

Manning and I have what happily-ever-after is made of . . .
A home he built us on the unshakeable foundation we fought for.
A life of laughter carved out of heartache and betrayal.
A love story to stand the test of time.

But between a trust that can’t be broken, joy that can’t be bridled, and passion that would scorch the sun, the empty spaces are becoming more and more difficult to ignore . . .

Fears that keep Manning up at night as he slips from our bed.
Our complicated relationship with a man he respects and one I don't know how to forgive.
And a sprawling, beautiful home with one small room I'm afraid I'll never be able to fill.

Manning and I have what happily-ever-after is made of . . . But I'll beg the heavens for just one thing more.

Lake + Manning is the final book in the Something in the Way series, a love saga.

Customer Reviews

All the stars in the sky and more!!

by
NikkiMouse09

I am in awe of Jessica’s writing and this story. All the feels!! EVERY SINGLE ONE!!! It was a perfect perfect ending to their journey.I laughed. I cried. My heart is bursting with love. I honestly want to say so much but don’t want to spoil it for anyone else. You are going to want to read this!!I can’t wait for the world to read Lake + Manning!!!!

As Perfect as Blueberry Pie!

by
Laura- Booked All Night

If you are reading this and haven't read the other books, stop now. This is the 4th in the series and, by definition, there are going to be spoilers of the books before this one...as you can't review the 4th book without giving away some things that got them here. Heck, the title is a bit of a spoiler. So, if you haven't read all of them, off you go. Stop reading.

Full disclosure. I was happy with the ending of Move the Stars. I liked where it ended, on the precipice of Manning and Lake finally getting their stars aligned and starting their happily ever after. There was a certain joy to ending at their beginning and I was wondering if this book was going to measure up to the perfection of the others, particularly of the 3rd, Move the Stars, which was my favorite book for all of 2017.

With Jessica Hawkins writing it, I was worried for nothing. She started at the end of perfection and gave us even more of exactly that, perfection.

This book is exactly as the title implies. It is their story. While there are other characters, and a lovely subplot for some characters who also deserved their story told, the bulk of this book is Lake and Manning. After 3 books of angst, of reading scenes about them being apart and DYING for Lake and Manning to be together, there was some sheer joy in spending time with them, in being able to be a part of their future.

In some ways, this is an extended epilogue. Although I hesitate to say that, as that almost sounds like a criticism. It's not. But it is the "what comes after" and it is the resolution to the angst. Was it nice to see them work it out, and to finally be together? Yes, it was. In fact, more than I was expecting. I knew I was going to enjoy this book, and the minute it appeared on my Kindle I started reading, but how much I loved it actually surprised me. You look to Jessica Hawkins for the tear jerking angst, for the forbidden. This book shows a different side to her as an author, and it shows that she can write a happy couple just as amazingly as she writes one that is struggling to find that happy.

But at least for me, while this book is the ending to the story that was told in the first 3 books, it is almost a standalone. Yes, there are characters and relationships from the first books, but what works so well is this is a beautiful story of people who are in love, and who stay that way. Of a couple who are committed to being a couple, and to figuring out the things that life throws at them, as a couple.

Are there challenges? Yes. Of course there are. But there is also a joy in watching Lake and Manning be exactly that...Lake and Manning. Not Lake and the man married to her sister, or Lake and the man who is too old for her, or Lake and the man her father wants her to avoid...just Lake and Manning.

This book, while it really could be read as a standalone, is, more than anything, an absolute gift to readers who have been there from the beginning of their story. And, it is their story now that there is no longer something getting in the way of their happiness.

I couldn't recommend it more.

The perfect conclusion

by
Pook1222

Lake + Manning is what every fan of the Something in the Way series could have hope for. Jessica Hawkins listened to her readers and gave them the book they demanded after Move the Stars. I suspect that she wanted this book just as much as her readers and that Lake and Manning told her to finish their story. This story didn’t have me in tears; instead, I sighed contentedly throughout, swooning yet again over Manning and his never ending love for his Birdy. There is one more obstacle for these two to overcome and Jessica did an amazing job showing her readers that Bear and Birdy can truly overcome anything. A truly epic conclusion to an epic series.